Well....I've finally decided to put my 42WLA trans together. After collecting 99.9% nos parts, minus the case, for it. I'll start the assembly process soon. Here is what she looks like bare, along with all of the parts she will contain within her. Pa

and your tech question is?damn are you telling me you got carpet in your shop?looks like a bunch of plastic bags to me on blue carpethow many came from me?like as in merry xmas from your ol ladyshe went to pains to conceal some of those parts she was getting you on the slyjust givin you a hard time paul but i'm sure you know that i just dont want others to think i'm being a ass

I kind of figured she picked up several of the parts from you Scoot. I was gonna remove them all from the bags but it was tough enough to keep them fairly organized as I laid them. The carpet is for my ass. When I get tired...I crash on it. It is going to be a sad moment when the assembly is completed. The nos oem parts will no longer be what they once were. But I don't care. I wanted all nos oem parts for this bike project, if possible. I'm doing my damndest, to keep her fitted with all original factory components, minus the tires.

I met a old guy in Milwaukee back in '98. He had worked for the MoCo during WWII. His job was to build eight WLA transmissions a day. He said when he first started he struggled to try to build eight a day. After he got it dialed in he would knock out eight transmissions then crawl under the bench and sleep the rest of his shift.

Not fitted to specs anway...heh Scoot ? Ya start with the clutch gear bearing fitting, go to the mainshaft end play, the mainshaft end play takes many togethers and aparts. Once you are satisified with the mainshaft end play. You got the cluster gear bearings to fit up. Next comes the mainshaft gears and shifter clutches. Spacing and clearance on these takes a few togethers and aparts. After fartin around with the two shafts and their components, you get to button up the side cover. Now it's time for the shifter gear,drum, and shifter forks. Same here....clearances...a few more togethers and aparts before you hit where you need to be. Now you can toss the sprocket cover on to hold the shifter fork shaft in place. Did I forget anything ? OH YEAH ! Adjust the shifter drum plunger ball screw for correct shifting tension and peen in location. Now that that is all out of the way, throw the sprocket on it.

Well....been getting set to fit the clutch gear to the main clutch gear race but have run into a problem. I should have miced the nos race before installing it into the case. My nos clutch gear diameter is right on but the race, as installed is undersized. As I see it, my options are to hone the case race while installed in the case, or remove the race and grind it to spec, so I can start with standard rollers. I don't like the idea of honing it while in the case, due to the short width of the actual roller contact surface of it. I'll go ahead and remove it from the case and re grind it to size.

Duh. You may want to try the other race for fit also and guess what, damn. Cluster gear, possibly same. All bushings...Get the picture yet?Then the motor will need all the same treatments.Hope you get all the miles out of her for your troubles.

I know the frustration of no sooner starting a long awaited project just to have some snag come up right away and slow things down. So it's not just after market parts that don't fit. Keep us posted as to your progress Pa. It would be interesting if you where to keep a log of your hours to complete your tranny.

Yeah...I will not miss a spec the rest of the way through this trans build. Engine work is easier to me than tranny work. Although I enjoy rebuilding earlier Big Twin trannies. Big Twin trannies are designed for the mechanically inclined individual. They flow together darn near on their own. On the other hand, no two 45 trannies are alike.

I fitted the shifter shaft bushings and countershaft bushing before installing the clutch gear race. Inspected the clutch gear as well. It really is a beauty. Countershaft and mainshaft are super nice too. I just didn't mic the ID of the clutch gear race before installing. I miced the OD, for fit to the case bore though. I should not have assumed the race ID would be good. I know better than this also. After discovering an NOS OEM flywheel gear shaft had no taper on it, when I removed it from the mil spec packaging, a trans gear box stud, freshly removed from mil spec packaging with no threads, and a few other parts along the way with something or another missing on them, I just should have known better. The vast majority of NOS OEM parts I inspect are usually dead on in specs. It is too cold to re grind the race today so I'll go at it again when the sun warms the area up. I will knock the race back out today. That ought to put a frown on the Ole Ladies face. I'll be using her oven a couple of more times. Once to remove the race and once again to put it back in again.

Logging my hours won't help anyone here out Steve. I'm slow now a days. What use to take me minutes now takes my days.

So we can assume that back in the day, that the guy assembling these transmissions had a trustful helper, inspecting/preparing the parts for him before hand. That would certainly explain how the old timer could have done eight a day. Wow.... And I thought I hated my job.

Hold on.....I've just gotta do this.....this is for you scoot..........

Piece of shit NOS garbage.....never fit like they should. You'd think that they if they make enough they would go the extra step to get it right. This is a perfect example why I NEVER use NOS crap. Probably all made by a Taiwanese or Indian machinist at the factory.Every part I get I have to spend hours to make fit and re-machine.I just don't get it.....how much more effort to make it right.All NOS stuff is crap......I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.Junk.....just plain junk.

LOL

You can remove this Pa......just pokin fun at scoot for the last 7 years of him saying how good his stuff is compared to repro's....... not trying to start a pissing contest....just thought the timing was right for my being quiet and having to read his posts all these years......

Remove it Kurt ? What for ? I really think Scoot will get a good chuckle out of it.

On another note.... I got to be thinking about the undersized comment some more. The more I pondered it, the more I looked for the tooling to resize the race. None was provided to do this for the 45 models. The factory parts and service manuals show none. The military parts and service manuals show none. But ???? Most all the service manuals for Big Twin do. So to summarize... Though Big Twin transmissions were meant to be made to fit, after race installation, proof is in the servfice manuals, it seems, 45 transmissions were not. Puzzling....Heh ???

Pa, You still haven't mentioned the other race. If you changed it for NOS, it will also need sized.I'm really surprized this is news.What are you doing with your good used parts? I know of a good outlet and someone who is not afraid to use them if the price is right!

I haven't gotten that far yet. I'll fit the clutch gear before I work on the side cover race. Fitting the clutch gear race as close as possible to tolerances will allow me more room for fitting the opposite end. Never use up tolerances early. Save them for the end. Don't worry none, Kat will dispose of my used parts, and nos oem not needed ones, I'm sure.